wfn.org | At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley wowed contemporaries

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June 12, 2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
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NOTE: This is a regular feature on Methodist history prepared especially for
distribution by United Methodist News Service. An artist's rendering of John
Wesley is available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.

A UMNS Feature
By John Singleton*

Celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of John Wesley's birth are raising
the historical profile of the founder of Methodism around the world, but what
was he really like as an individual, and how did he come across as a person
whose fame went before him like wildfire? 

We know that he sometimes had a mixed reception, but he cut an impressive
figure both physically and as a person of faith, according to several
eyewitnesses of his time.

One was an Anglican clergyman, John Hampson, author of the first biography of
John Wesley, published in 1791 (the year of Wesley's death). "His face, for
an old man, was one of the finest we have seen," he wrote. "A clear, smooth
forehead, an aquiline nose, an eye the brightest and most piercing that can
be conceived, and a freshness of complexion scarcely conspired to render him
a venerable and interesting figure." Few had seen him without being struck
with his appearance, said Hampson, and many who had been greatly prejudiced
against him had been known to change their opinion the moment they were
introduced into his presence.

"In dress he was a pattern of neatness and simplicity," he continued. "A
narrow plaited stock, a coat with a small upright collar, no buckles at his
knees, no silk or velvet in any part of his apparel, and a head as white as
snow, give an idea of something primitive and apostolical; while an air of
neatness and cleanliness was diffused over his whole person." 

Another witness was Christopher Hopper, a young man from Ryton on Tyne, in
the north-east of England, who worked on the local coal-mining industry wagon
ways and later became one of the best of Wesley's assistant preachers. This
is how he first heard of the man who was to have such a significant influence
upon his life:

"In May 1742, we heard a strange report of one Wesley, a Church clergyman,
that had been at Newcastle upon Tyne, and had preached in Sandgate to many
thousands, who heard him with astonishment. This new thing made a huge noise.
The populace entertained various conjectures about him; but few if any could
tell the motive on which he came, or the end he had in view. He made a short
blaze, soon disappeared, and left us in great consternation."

Hopper was also an eyewitness to the work of John's brother, Charles, with
the coal miners of the north. "Charles Wesley came, and preached at Tanfield
Cross," he wrote. "I ran with the multitude to hear this strange preacher.
When I saw a man in clergyman's habit, preaching at a public cross to a large
auditory - some gaping, some laughing and some weeping - I wondered what this
could mean.

"When he had concluded some said: 'He is a good man, and is sent to reform
our land'; others said: 'Nay, he is come to pervert and deceive us, and we
ought to stone him out of our coasts.' I said: 'If he is a good man, good
will be done, and it is plain we want a reformation; but if he is an
imposter, he can only leave us as he found us, that is, without hope and
without God in the world.' " Hopper said he could not tell what had induced
him to go so far in his defense of Charles Wesley, but that he was now in
danger of being called "a Methodist."

In an age when the daily newspapers contained less information than now
appears every morning on a half-page of USA Today or the Times in England, a
brief paragraph in the late 18th century would have a greater relative
importance than it would today. 

In an assessment of Wesley's influence following his death, the Public
Advertizer referred to "that well-known and celebrated minister and reformer,
the Rev. John Wesley, whose eminent abilities in every branch of polite and
sacred literature, being directed by the grace of God to the most important
and valuable ends, not only rendered him the ornament of his own age and
country, but will also endear his name to the latest posterity."

Another paper, the Morning Chronicle, said: "Whatever may be the opinions
held of Mr. Wesley's divinity, it is impossible to deny him the merit of
having done infinite good to the lower class of people. ... His history, if
well written, would certainly be important, for in every respect, as the
founder of the most numerous sect in the kingdom, as a man and as a writer,
he must be considered as one of the most extraordinary characters this or any
age has produced."

Although the biweekly London Chronicle described Wesley's income as
"prodigious" at not less than 10,000 pounds a year, it pointed out that he
"appropriated no more to his own use than was sufficient to supply the
necessaries of life." The money went to build chapels and pay preachers
throughout the kingdom, it noted.

The influential Gentleman's Magazine said the great point at which Wesley's
name and mission would be honored was that he directed his labors toward
"those who had no instructor; to the highways and hedges; to the miners in
Cornwall, and the colliers (coal miners) in Kingswood. ... By the humane and
active endeavors of him and his brother Charles, a sense of decency, morals
and religion was introduced into the lowest classes of mankind; the ignorant
were instructed; the wretched relieved; and the abandoned reclaimed." 

The editorial noted that although Wesley had met with great opposition from
the clergy and "unhandsome treatment" from the magistrates, "he was, however,
one of the few characters who outlived enmity and prejudice, and received, in
his latter years, every mark of respect from every denomination. ...
 
"The great purpose of his life was doing good," it continued. "For this he
relinquished all honor and preferment. To the bed of sickness or the couch of
prosperity, to the prison or the hospital, the house of mourning or the house
of feasting, wherever there was a friend to serve, or a soul to save, he
readily repaired; to administer assistance or advice, reproof or consolation,
he thought no efforts too humiliating, no condescension too low, no
undertaking too arduous."

Wesley clearly got good press from his contemporaries, and his stature as a
major figure in Christianity has only grown since those early days of
Methodism.

# # #

*Singleton is a writer with the weekly Methodist Recorder newspaper in
London. He can be contacted by e-mail at john@towerhamlets.org.

 
 

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